Lord Sainsbury of Turville: At 30 September 2006 there were 5,257 production people employed in the coal industry. Of these, 3,736 were employed at 14 active deep mines, including 2,846 working underground. Details of the names, locations and workforce at these mines are given in the following table.
	
		
			 Mine Name Region Total No of employees No employed underground 
			 Aberpergwm* Neath, S Wales 64 42 
			 Blaentillery No 2 Torfaen, S Wales 6 5 
			 Daw Mill Warwickshire 631 504 
			 Eckington Derbyshire 26 24 
			 Hatfield* S Yorkshire 152 114 
			 Hay Royds W Yorkshire 13 12 
			 Kellingley N Yorkshire 713 572 
			 Maltby S Yorkshire 502 359 
			 Thoresby Nottinghamshire 497 373 
			 Tower Colliery Hirwaun, S Wales 375 260 
			 Unity* Neath, S Wales 14 7 
			 Welbeck Nottinghamshire 495 397 
			 Harworth** Nottingham 214 150 
			 Rossington** S Yorkshire 41 20 
			 Data provide by the Coal Authority on 25 October 2006* mines in development to come into production during 2007** production has halted at these mines, which are currently being "mothballed"

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: In January 2003, the Medical Research Council (MRC), through the Military Health Research Advisory Group (MHRAG), undertook a comprehensive review of relevant Gulf research. On 27 January, MHRAG held a private meeting with a number of scientists from the UK and overseas and then met separately on 28 January to appraise the MRC of scientific progress, of the potential for gaining further knowledge and of research needs, and of what the likely medical issues might be. The report, MRC Review of Research into UK Gulf Veterans' Illnesses, was published in May 2003 and is currently available on the MRC website1. The membership of the MHRAG was as follows:
	Professor Catherine Peckham (chair): Institute of Child Health, London Professor Bryn Bridges: Genome Damage & Stability Centre, Sussex Professor David Coggon: MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, SouthamptonProfessor Dudley Goodhead: MRC Radiation & Genome Stability Unit, HarwellProfessor George Griffin: St George's Hospital Medical School, London Professor Pierluigi Nicotera: MRC Toxicology Unit, Leicester Professor George Davey-Smith: University of Bristol, Bristol Professor Nick Tarrier: Manchester University (Withington Hospital), ManchesterProfessor Andrew McMichael: MRC Human Immunology Unit, OxfordDr Frances Murphy (observer): Department of Veterans' Affairs Washington, USA
	Mr Nick Blatchley (observer): MoD Gulf Veterans' Illnesses Unit, London
	The review was conducted in London and, in addition to the expenses incurred by members of the MHRAG, the travel expenses of individuals invited to the private meeting were also supported. These included: eleven participants from the UK (Aberdeen (1), Bristol (1), Cambridge (1), Cardiff (1), Glasgow (1), Leicester (2), Liverpool (1), London (14), Manchester (1), Oxford (1) and Porton Down (1)); two from France (Bordeaux (1) and Strasbourg (1)); three from Canada (Alberta (1) and Ottawa (2)); and five from the United States (Iowa City (1) and Washington DC (4)).
	The MRC did not consult directly with the Gulf War Veterans and Families Association before undertaking the review. A representative from the Royal British Legion attended the private meeting on 27 January 2003 and all relevant information on the review has been made available on the MRC website. Following the review, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which is the lead government department on Gulf veterans' illnesses issues, wrote to veterans organisations to report on the outcome.
	The 2003 review did not include an assessment of published or emerging research at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in the United States.
	One of the recommendations of the 2003 review was that MoD should replicate US neuroimaging studies in the United Kingdom. A further review of this recommendation was conducted in January 2005 and it was concluded that this area of work should not be taken forward at this time. At present, the MRC has not conducted subsequent strategic reviews of more recent research findings.
	1 http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Utilities/Documentrecord/index.htm?d=MRC002464

Lord Triesman: The Government have not discussed the results of any particular polls with the Government of Israel. The UK has consistently supported Israel's right to defend itself, including against the unprovoked attack by Hizbollah on 12 July. However, during the conflict we urged the Israelis to act in proportionate and measured ways, so as to minimise civilian death and suffering. Together with the EU, the Government have consistently urged all parties to do everything possible to protect civilian populations and to refrain from actions in violation of international humanitarian law.

Lord Triesman: We, along with our US partners, remain fully committed to the road map as the way forward for the Middle East peace process (MEPP). Both the Israeli Government and Palestinian President Abbas are also committed to this way forward.
	In the past five years, both the UK and the US have voted for the following UN Security Council Resolutions on the MEPP: 1397 (2002), on a two-state solution, 1402 (2002), 1403 (2002) and 1405 (2002) on events in the Occupied Territories and 1515 (2003) which endorsed the quartet (EU, US, UN and Russia) road map. We will continue to discuss proposals to move the peace process forward with our US partners.

Lord Rooker: The new rural development regulation, agreed in September 2005, provides member states with a framework to target funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development during the next programming period: 2007-2013. To unlock this funding the regulation requires us to submit to the EU Commission a national strategy plan plus an accompanying, and more detailed, programme document.
	The national strategy plan is the term the EU Commission uses for a strategy that sets out at a high level; our priorities for action; a summary of the evidence base for our approach across the rural development programme's objectives; and, information about how we will co-ordinate rural development funding with other EU derived funds.
	The regulation requires the strategy to be developed at member state level. As rural development is an area of devolved responsibility, there will be an overarching UK national strategy plan, highlighting the common themes between our four countries, with annexes covering the strategies for rural development in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
	We expect the EU Commission to respond to the strategy this autumn. However, the Commission does not formally approve the strategy and submission of the strategy is not dependent on having agreement on overall budgets. Therefore it is unlikely that there will be any delay in applying the strategy as a result of the Commission's response to it.

Lord Rooker: The red squirrel is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In addition, it benefits from an individual species action plan that is led by the UK Red Squirrel Group, a consortium including all the UK conservation agencies and the Forestry Commission.
	The majority of red squirrel habitats remaining in England are conifer plantations and do not receive statutory protection as SSSIs, as Natural England believes this would do little to improve their conservation and management. However, the Forestry Commission plays an important role in agreeing and delivering management plans for many of these sites, and also provides woodland grants to assist in the delivery of biodiversity targets. This strategy provides the best chances of maintaining a red squirrel population on mainland England.
	In southern England, the red squirrel population does occupy some areas that are statutorily protected as SSSIs. These include parts of the two largest areas of woodland on the island, Parkhurst Forest and Briddlesford Woods. The other remaining English stronghold for the red squirrel is in the north of England. A major partnership project, Red Alert North England, is underway to manage 16 forests as red squirrel reserves, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Partners include the Forestry Commission, which is responsible for the management of more than half the reserve area, Natural England and the Wildlife Trusts for Northumberland, Cumbria and Lancashire.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: In the past 10 years, the Export Credits Guarantee Department has provided support in respect of business with Zimbabwe as listed in the table below.
	It is ECGD's policy not to disclose details of insurance policies it provides, or the fact of having provided insurance, where it considers the disclosure of such information might effect the commercial position of ECGD or its customers, and thus the UK economy. Pursuant to that policy, one insurance policy, which has been issued in respect of business with Zimbabwe in the past 10 years, is not included in this Answer.
	
		
			 Year Name of exporter Nature of business 
			 1997 Siemens Plc Mobile Telecommunications 
			 Standrange Ltd Sawmill 
			 Edmund Nuttall Ltd Airport Terminal 
			 1998 Land Rover Exports Limited Land Rover Vehicles 
			 Mitsui Babcock Energy Services Ltd Power Station 
			 Standrange Ltd Sawmill 
			 1999 Siemens Plc Mobile Telecommunications